Deep Rearch - Blog - Values vs. Preference Assessments in School-Based ABA Interventions
1/30/2026
Values vs. Preference Assessments in School-Based ABA Interventions Understanding Preference Assessments and Reinforcers In applied behavior analysis (ABA), sti...
Values vs.
Preference Assessments in School-Based ABA Interventions
Understanding Preference Assessments and Reinforcers
In applied behavior analysis (ABA), stimulus preference assessments are systematic methods to identify items or activities a student likes, under the assumption that high-preference stimuli will likely function as reinforcers.
For example, a teacher might present a series of toys, snacks, or activities and observe which the student consistently chooses.
Classic research by Fisher et al. (1992) demonstrated that a forced-choice (paired-stimulus) preference assessment produced clear preference hierarchies and accurately predicted which stimuli would function as effective reinforcers (i.e. produce higher response rates when given contingently) .
In practice, preference assessments (such as paired-choice, multiple-stimulus, or free-operant formats) help pinpoint tangible rewards or preferred activities that can motivate students in the short term.
These assessments are a staple of behavior modification programs; identifying a student’s favorite edibles, toys, or social rewards allows practitioners to deliver reinforcement contingent on desired behaviors, thereby increasing those behaviors over time .
Preference assessments are generally easy to implement and have strong empirical support for improving learning and reducing problem behaviors by leveraging individuals’ immediate likes and dislikes. Example (Preference Assessment): A school behavior specialist might conduct a brief preference assessment with a 10-year-old by offering choices between different potential rewards (e.g. extra computer time, a snack, a sticker, or a game with a friend).
If the student consistently chooses “game with a friend” over other options, that activity would be identified as a high-preference item and could be used as a reinforcer.
Indeed, research shows that high-ranked items from systematic preference assessments are likely to function as more potent reinforcers in practice .
Using these preferred items as rewards, the teacher could then reinforce the child’s positive behaviors (completing classwork, following rules) with the opportunity to play a game with a friend, thus increasing the likelihood of those behaviors recurring. Limitations of Preference-Only Approaches: One limitation of focusing solely on preference assessments is that they target immediate preferences, which can be fleeting or context-dependent.
A child’s interest in specific toys or treats may wane over time or vary day to day.
Moreover, preference assessments typically emphasize extrinsic motivators – discrete rewards that are often unrelated to the intrinsic or long-term importance of the behaviors we want to encourage.
In a school setting, exclusive reliance on external reinforcers (stickers, candy, etc.) might not foster the student’s deeper engagement or generalize well to natural settings.
Historically, many behavior modification strategies in classrooms involved token economies or reward charts that, while effective in the short run, sometimes failed to connect with what the student personally values.
Over time, a narrow focus on extrinsic rewards can risk interventions feeling artificial or less “owned” by the student.
This is where values assessments offer a compelling complementary approach.
What Are Values Assessments?
Values assessments aim to identify the qualities of life, core beliefs, and long-term pursuits that are most meaningful to an individual.
In the context of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy/Training (ACT, a contemporary behavior-analytic approach), “values” are defined as “freely chosen, verbally constructed consequences of ongoing, dynamic, evolving patterns of activity, which establish predominant reinforcers for that activity that are intrinsic in engagement in the valued behavioral pattern itself” .
In simpler terms, values represent what a person finds truly important and reinforcing in a broad sense, such as personal growth, relationships, creativity, or helping others.
Unlike momentary preferences, values are more enduring guiding principles that can organize and motivate behavior over long time frames .
Notably, “freely chosen” means these values are personally significant (not merely imposed by others) and thus tap into reinforcers that are inherently meaningful to the individual . In behavioral terms, values can be seen as verbal motivating operations that alter the potency of certain consequences.
Tarbox et al. (2020) describe values statements as rule-governed antecedents that function as motivational augmentals – they momentarily increase the effectiveness of actions that produce valued outcomes as reinforcers .
For example, if a student verbalizes a value like “being a good friend,” then behaviors aligned with that value (helping a classmate, sharing, etc.) may acquire heightened reinforcing value.
Simply put, connecting a behavior to one’s values can augment how rewarding that behavior feels .
This concept is grounded in Relational Frame Theory (RFT) – the idea that through language, a value can become associated with many specific behaviors and outcomes, thereby enhancing their reinforcing effects . Within ACT frameworks (which fall under the umbrella of behavior analysis), practitioners often use values clarification exercises – worksheets, card sorts, guided questions, or rating forms – to help individuals identify and verbalize their core values .
In therapy or training contexts, clients might list their top values (e.g. “family,” “learning,” “kindness”) and describe what living in accordance with each value looks like.
In a school setting, a values assessment could involve a student self-reflection (with developmentally appropriate language) about what is most important to them in school and life: Do they deeply care about friendship, fairness, achievement, creativity, leadership, etc.? This process helps highlight sources of intrinsic motivation – the “why” behind the behaviors we hope to encourage. Example (Values Assessment): A high school counselor implementing an ACT-informed intervention might ask a student to reflect on times they felt proud or fulfilled and identify the values behind those moments.
The student might reveal, for instance, that they value helping others and artistic expression.
With this insight, the counselor and student can brainstorm school-based activities or goals aligned with these values – such as tutoring younger students (for the value of helping) or joining the art club (for creativity).
These activities aren’t just preferred in the moment; they are imbued with personal significance, likely making the student more inherently motivated to pursue them.
In essence, the student learns that by engaging in behaviors connected to their values (helping, creating art), they contact a kind of natural reinforcement – a sense of meaning and satisfaction that comes from living out one’s values .
The values assessment thus identifies people, activities, or contexts that function as reinforcers because they link to what the student cares about at a deeper level (e.g. the student might find social volunteer roles reinforcing due to valuing altruism, or find art projects reinforcing due to valuing creativity).
Why Focus on Values in a K-12 Setting?
Integrating values assessments into school-based behavior plans can provide several key benefits over relying on preference assessments alone: Greater Social Validity and Meaningfulness: In ABA, social validity refers to the social importance of goals, procedures, and outcomes.
Values-based interventions inherently target goals that the student finds meaningful, thereby increasing buy-in.
When a student’s own values guide the selection of reinforcers and targets, the intervention is more likely to be seen as relevant and worthwhile by the student themselves.
Hanley (2010) argued for involving clients in defining what is valuable to them as a way to ensure behavior-change programs are both effective and preferred .
By assessing values, educators ensure that the behaviors we seek to increase are linked to outcomes the student genuinely cares about.
For instance, turning in homework to earn praise might not matter to a student who doesn’t value teacher approval – but completing an assignment that contributes to a valued goal (such as learning about a dream career, or helping a peer) has inherent importance.
This alignment with personal values can make behavior interventions feel less like an external imposition and more like a personally meaningful pursuit, enhancing cooperation and persistence. Intrinsic Motivation and Reinforcement: A classic concern in education is how to promote intrinsic motivation – students doing the right thing because they want to, not just for a reward.
Values-based approaches offer a behavioral route to intrinsic motivation: when a behavior is tied to a value, the reinforcer becomes embedded in the activity itself, not just in an external reward.
As Dahl (2015) put it, values are “patterns of action that provide a sense of meaning” and yield intangible outcomes that are reinforcing in their own right .
In other words, living according to one’s values feels rewarding.
A student who values “mastery in science” may experience genuine satisfaction from spending extra time on a science project – the act of mastering the project is reinforcing, beyond any grade or prize.
This contrasts with a purely extrinsic reward system where the student might only work for, say, a piece of candy and derive no enjoyment from the task itself once the candy is earned.
By using values as motivation, we augment the naturally occurring reinforcers inherent in learning or prosocial behavior .
Over time, this can nurture self-driven learners: students who continue positive behaviors even when tangible rewards are withdrawn, because the behaviors are now tied to their identity and aspirations. Long-Term and Generalized Impact: Values tend to be stable over time (though one can reprioritize values, they are not as moment-to-moment as preferences).
Therefore, interventions based on values may have more lasting effects.
A preferred toy might lose its appeal next week, but a deeply held value (e.g., “being a leader” or “being kind”) can motivate a student across many contexts and years.
By tapping into values, educators can identify classes of reinforcers that remain effective across different situations.
For example, a student who values social connection might always find time with friends reinforcing – so a teacher can use peer-mediated rewards (like having lunch with a buddy) not only in math class but also as a reward in reading or behavior interventions.
Because values are broad, the strategies derived from them (social outings, creative projects, helping roles, etc.) can be generalized beyond a single classroom or program.
The student learns to seek out and reinforce themselves with value-consistent activities, a skill that can persist into adulthood (aligning with the goal of producing self-sustaining behavior change). Compatibility with ACT and Modern Behavior Analytic Strategies: The field of behavior analysis has increasingly recognized the importance of integrating ACT processes (like values and mindfulness) with traditional ABA for a more holistic approach .
Historically, behavior modification in schools often emphasized control through external consequences, but contemporary approaches emphasize student agency, choice, and values to enrich interventions.
Values assessments dovetail with positive behavior support and person-centered planning in schools, where the student’s voice and preferences (broadened to include their values) shape the intervention.
This is a compassionate, individualized approach that can improve the student-teacher relationship and the overall climate of the intervention.
In essence, focusing on values is not a rejection of reinforcement principles but an evolution – it uses the established behavioral principle that reinforcement is most effective when it is aligned with strong motivating operations .
A value functions like a motivating operation by making certain reinforcers more potent; as one article explained, a statement of one’s value (e.g. “I value being a good friend”) can increase the likelihood of behaviors that produce the related reinforcers (e.g. the positive feelings or social feedback from helping friends) .
Thus, values serve as an establishing operation for whole categories of prosocial or productive behaviors.
This conceptual integration of ACT into school-based ABA is supported by emerging research and is well within the behavior analyst’s scope . Focus on Quality of Life, Not Just Task Completion: Particularly for K-12 students (including those with developmental disabilities), it’s important that behavior-change programs are directed toward improving the student’s overall quality of life and future success.
Values assessments help ensure we are reinforcing behaviors that lead to socially significant outcomes (not just arbitrary token goals).
For example, instead of reinforcing a student’s quiet behavior in class solely with a piece of candy, a values-driven approach might reinforce that quiet on-task behavior by recognizing the student’s progress toward a meaningful goal (“I noticed you worked quietly and finished your story – you’ve talked about valuing creativity, and look, now you’ve written an original story you’re proud of!”).
In this way, the consequence is not just a treat but an acknowledgement that links the behavior to the child’s identity or values (“I’m a writer/artist/helper, etc.”).
Such practices can bolster the student’s self-esteem and self-understanding, contributing to long-term personal development, not just immediate behavior compliance.
Evidence from Single-Subject Research
A growing body of behavior-analytic research – much of it using single-subject designs – supports the efficacy of values-based interventions in promoting behavior change.
Below are a few key examples relevant to school or analogous contexts: Staff and Classroom Engagement (Castro et al., 2016): In a multiple-baseline study, Castro and colleagues evaluated a values clarification and committed action intervention for direct-care staff working with individuals with severe developmental disabilities.
Staff attended workshops to identify their work-related values and commit to value-consistent actions.
The results showed that staff greatly increased their engagement with clients (by 11–16 more interactions per session) after the values workshops, compared to baseline .
This finding illustrates that when people connect their daily tasks to their personal values (“Why is my work important to me?”), they become more active and effective in those tasks.
By analogy, in a school, if teachers or aides identify their values in working with students (e.g. compassion, making a difference) or if students identify values behind their learning, we might see increased engagement in educational activities.
The Castro et al. study provides empirical evidence that values clarification can function as an establishing operation, enhancing the reinforcing value of work activities and thereby increasing desirable behavior (in this case, staff attentiveness and interaction).
It underscores a principle highly relevant to classrooms: embedding values in training or instruction can boost participation and commitment . Parent Behavior and Child Outcomes (Gould et al., 2018): Gould, Tarbox, and Coyne conducted an ACT-based intervention with parents of children with autism, measuring the parents’ overt behavior aligned with their personal values .
Using a multiple-baseline design across participants, they included values identification exercises in parent training and then tracked how often parents engaged in actions that fulfilled their own stated values (for example, a parent who valued “family togetherness” might have a goal of eating dinner out with their child, as described in the study) .
The intervention led to notable increases in values-driven parent behaviors, and these improvements were maintained or even accelerated at follow-up .
In other words, after ACT training, parents spent more time doing things they personally deemed important with their children, and this positive change endured.
While this study involved parents, it has direct implications for schools: it demonstrates that explicitly teaching people to connect behavior change to their values yields sustained behavior change.
For K-12 students, we could similarly expect that linking school behaviors (attendance, homework, cooperation) to their own values will promote more consistent and lasting change than relying on external rewards alone.
The Gould et al. findings exemplify the “dual role of values” in intervention – values were both a component of the treatment (discussing what matters to the participant) and a metric of success (the increase in behaviors consistent with those values served as the outcome) .
This values-driven approach to measuring progress could easily translate to education: rather than measuring only test scores or rule compliance, teachers might also track a student’s progress toward self-identified values or goals (e.g., “Is the student engaging in more leadership behaviors since we started reinforcing her value of leadership?”). Values Exercises and Behavior Change (Engle & Follette, 2018): Engle and Follette conducted an experimental comparison of two ACT values exercises to see if they would increase values-oriented behaviors in participants.
Although this study was not in a school, it provides a tightly controlled demonstration of the power of values.
They found that participants who went through values articulation exercises subsequently showed more behavior aligned with their values compared to a control group .
This suggests that even a single session of reflecting on one’s values can immediately alter behavior patterns – essentially, by motivating individuals to act in concordance with what matters to them.
For educators, this finding is exciting: a brief classroom activity where students identify their academic or personal values might increase their on-task behavior or effort on value-related activities.
It is evidence that values assessment is not just a fluffy idea, but a procedure with observable effects on behavior. Applications with Students and Youth: Research specifically with children and adolescents is emerging.
For instance, Szabo and colleagues (2020) outlined practical techniques for behavior analysts to promote values-based behaviors in families, and Szabo (2019) demonstrated an ACT-enhanced approach to reduce inflexible, challenging behaviors in children with autism .
These studies, while in clinical or home settings, involved single-case designs showing that including values (e.g., helping a child articulate what they care about or using metaphors to make adaptive behavior more personally salient) can improve outcomes even for young individuals.
Additionally, meta-analyses have found ACT-based interventions to be efficacious for children and adolescents across various domains .
Many of these interventions feature values components (like having teens choose valued goals for treatment), which likely contribute to their effectiveness.
In a school context, we can draw on these findings to build curricula or behavior support plans that explicitly incorporate values clarification for students.
The growing consensus is that values-based methods can be feasibly adapted to youth – for example, the Bull’s-Eye Values Survey has been used to help teenagers identify valued directions, and ACT-oriented school programs (like The Thriving Adolescent curriculum) provide developmentally appropriate exercises for values exploration .
While more single-subject research in actual classrooms is needed, the theoretical and applied evidence so far strongly supports that students who understand their own values can harness them as motivation to improve behavior and achievement.
Implementing Values Assessments in Schools
Practically speaking, doing a values assessment with a K-12 student involves guiding the student to reflect on what is important to them and then using that information to tailor reinforcers and goals.
Here are a few steps and examples for implementation: Values Clarification Activity: Teachers or school psychologists can use simple tools like questionnaires, card sorts, or guided discussions to prompt students to identify their values.
For younger children, this might be framed in terms of “what do you want to be like?” or “what do you care about?” with picture cues (for example: family, friendship, helping, learning, playing, creating).
For older students, one might use a worksheet listing various values (honesty, kindness, being active, being a leader, etc.) and have the student rank their top values or describe what each means to them.
This conversation should be student-centered – the key is to uncover which reinforcers are personally powerful for that student in a broader sense than just favorite items . Aligning Reinforcers with Values: Once values are identified, the next step is to brainstorm activities, privileges, or social interactions in the school environment that embody those values.
For example: If a student values “kindness” or “helping others,” a potential reinforcer could be allowing the student to be a classroom helper or mentor.
The student might earn the opportunity to assist the teacher with a special task, or to tutor a younger student, when they exhibit positive behaviors.
This way, the reward for good behavior is literally engaging in something that fulfils their helping value.
Many students find this deeply rewarding, as it provides a sense of pride and social connection, beyond what a sticker or small toy could offer. If a student values “artistic expression,” reinforcers could include extra art time, a leadership role in a creative project, or the ability to design the classroom bulletin board.
The student is likely to work hard on less preferred tasks (like math drills) if doing so earns them access to what they truly love – art – which is tied to their core value of creativity. For a student who values “friendship and social connection,” a powerful reinforcer might be social rewards: having lunch with a favorite peer or teacher, playing a game with classmates, or leading a fun group activity.
Such social reinforcers might not emerge from a typical preference assessment that only lists toys or edibles; a values assessment, however, reveals that people and social experiences can function as extremely effective reinforcers for this student.
Indeed, research on social preference assessments indicates that many individuals (including those with autism) do prefer social interaction as a reward, which can be missed if we don’t explicitly assess for it .
By knowing a student values friendship, a teacher can confidently use social interaction as a motivator in the classroom. If a student values “achievement” or “mastery,” the teacher might incorporate goal-setting and feedback as reinforcement.
For instance, the student could earn badges or certificates when mastering a skill, or get to showcase their work to the class.
This appeals to their value of achievement – the recognition of accomplishment itself is reinforcing.
A study by Chase et al. (2013) with college students found that adding an ACT-based values component to goal-setting led to better academic performance than goal-setting alone .
Translating this to K-12, a student who values being a “good student” will respond well when positive behaviors are linked to that self-image (e.g., “You worked hard on this project, that’s you being a scientist!”). Incorporating Values into Contingencies: In practice, educators can still use all the familiar ABA techniques (positive reinforcement, token systems, self-monitoring, etc.), but with a twist: explicitly tie the contingency to the student’s values.
For example, alongside a token economy, one might include a “Values Board” where each student has listed their key value or goal (say, “Responsibility” for a student who wants to be seen as responsible).
When delivering a token or praise, the teacher can label the behavior in terms of that value: “I’m giving you a point for cleaning up – I can see how responsible you are, and being responsible is important to you.” This kind of language helps the student make the connection that the real reward is becoming the kind of person they want to be, with the token being just a symbol.
Over time, such rule statements can themselves motivate the student (function as verbal motivators) even when a token is not immediately present .
This approach echoes the idea of values acting as an MO – reminding a student of their value (“I’m someone who helps others”) in the moment can increase the reinforcing effectiveness of doing a helpful act, as demonstrated conceptually by behavior analysts .
The classroom becomes not only about earning points or grades, but about living out values daily, which is a powerful life lesson. Monitoring and Celebrating Values-Driven Behavior: Just as one would collect data on how often a target behavior occurs, teachers can monitor instances of the student acting in line with their values.
Gould et al. (2018) defined “values-directed behaviors” in their study so they could count them .
A teacher could do similarly: for a student who values leadership, the teacher notes each instance the student took initiative or helped a peer without prompting.
This can be graphed or shared with the student as feedback, thereby reinforcing that those actions are noticed and appreciated.
By celebrating progress in a value area, we reinforce not just a single behavior but a whole pattern of behavior.
The student learns that every time they act according to their value, they feel a sense of accomplishment (intrinsic reward) and often receive social acknowledgment (extrinsic reward) – a combination that is very potent.
Research in OBM and education suggests that people become more consistent in behaviors that are both intrinsically and extrinsically reinforced .
Thus, a values-focused program gives a double dose of reinforcement: the chosen activity is rewarding and it yields internal satisfaction. Conclusion In summary, shifting from preference assessments to values assessments (or integrating both) can greatly enrich behavior intervention plans for K-12 students.
Preference assessments are invaluable for identifying what students enjoy in the moment, but values assessments tap into what students truly find important in the long run.
By doing so, we select reinforcers and design interventions that not only produce immediate behavior change but also nurture students’ autonomy, purpose, and long-term positive behaviors.
ACT research and contemporary ABA practice show that connecting behavior-change programs to individuals’ values leads to more robust and sustainable outcomes – people work harder, persist longer, and generalize their behavior when it aligns with their own core values .
In the school context, this means a student is more likely to keep reading because they’ve discovered they value knowledge, more likely to be kind because they value friendship, and more likely to try their best because they value personal growth. Crucially, focusing on values answers the “Why should I do this?” question that many students (explicitly or implicitly) ask.
Instead of the answer being, “because you’ll get a prize,” it becomes, “because it helps you become the kind of person you want to be or achieve something you really care about.” This is a far more powerful form of motivation.
It transforms our role as educators and behavior analysts: we are not just managers of external rewards, but mentors helping students connect their daily actions to their cherished aspirations.
By doing values assessments rather than (or in addition to) preference assessments, we ensure that our interventions respect each student’s individuality and empower them to find reinforcement in the very process of learning and growing.
This approach is supported by peer-reviewed single-subject research and aligns with the evolution of behavior analytic practice toward more compassionate, person-centered strategies .
In practice, values-based interventions in schools hold great promise for improving not only behavior and academic performance, but also the overall well-being and character development of students – outcomes that are ultimately the most valuable of all. Sources: Baer, D.
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I kept claims supported by peer-reviewed behavior-analytic sources and leaned on single-subject studies where we’re asserting empirical effects.
Values vs.
Preference Assessments in School-Based ABA Interventions
Understanding Preference Assessments and Reinforcers
In applied behavior analysis (ABA), stimulus preference assessments are systematic methods to identify items or activities a student likes, under the assumption that high-preference stimuli will likely function as reinforcers.
For example, a teacher might present toys, snacks, or activities and observe repeated choices.
Classic single-subject research showed that paired-stimulus (forced-choice) procedures yield clear hierarchies that predict reinforcer efficacy (Fisher et al., 1992).
In practice, preference assessments (e.g., paired-choice, multiple-stimulus, free-operant) help pinpoint tangible rewards or preferred activities that can motivate students in the short term; identifying favorite items or social activities allows practitioners to deliver reinforcement contingent on desired behavior to increase that behavior (Fisher et al., 1992).
Preference assessments are generally easy to implement and have strong empirical support for selecting stimuli likely to function as reinforcers (Fisher et al., 1992). Example (Preference Assessment).
A specialist conducts a brief assessment with a 10-year-old, offering choices among “extra computer time,” “a snack,” “a sticker,” and “a game with a friend.” If “game with a friend” is consistently selected, it becomes a high-preference option and can function as a reinforcer for work completion or rule following (Fisher et al., 1992). Limitations of Preference-Only Approaches.
Solely targeting immediate preferences risks capturing fleeting interests and emphasizing extrinsic motivators that may not generalize beyond the training context.
Historically, classroom behavior-modification strategies often relied on external rewards; without linking behavior to personally meaningful reasons, interventions can feel artificial and less “owned” by the student.
This is where values assessments provide a complementary approach.
What Are Values Assessments?
Values assessments identify core life directions that are meaningful to the learner (e.g., helping others, creativity, friendship).
In ACT-informed behavior analysis, values are freely chosen, verbally constructed directions that function to organize behavior over time and are intrinsically reinforcing to enact (Paliliunas, 2022).
Conceptually, values operate like motivational augmentals—rule-governed antecedents that alter the reinforcing value of consequences for actions consistent with those values (Tarbox et al., 2020).
Thus, if a student states “being a good friend” as a value, helping and sharing may acquire heightened reinforcing value because the behavior contacts valued outcomes (Tarbox et al., 2020; Paliliunas, 2022).
Within ACT frameworks, brief values-clarification exercises (e.g., card sorts, guided questions) help students identify and verbalize values and define what “living that value at school” looks like in observable terms (Paliliunas, 2022). Example (Values Assessment).
A counselor guides a student to reflect on proud moments and extract values (e.g., helping others; artistic expression).
The plan then aligns school activities to those values (e.g., tutoring younger students; joining art club).
Acting in line with values contacts natural reinforcement—meaning, pride, and coherence with one’s identity—beyond any tangible reward (Paliliunas, 2022; Tarbox et al., 2020).
Why Focus on Values in a K–12 Setting?
Greater social validity and meaning.
When reinforcers and goals are tied to the student’s own values, buy-in and perceived relevance increase.
Behavior analysis emphasizes social validity; involving learners in identifying what is valuable enhances both effectiveness and preference for programs (Hanley, 2010).
Values assessments ensure target behaviors link to outcomes the student genuinely cares about (Hanley, 2010; Paliliunas, 2022). Intrinsic motivation and reinforcement.
Tying behavior to values embeds reinforcement in the activity itself, not just in an external reward.
Living in accordance with values is described behavior-analytically as contacting intrinsically meaningful consequences (Paliliunas, 2022).
Values statements function as augmentals that increase the effectiveness of value-consistent consequences (Tarbox et al., 2020), supporting persistence even as contrived rewards fade. Long-term and generalized impact.
Values are relatively stable compared to momentary preferences, so value-aligned reinforcers generalize across contexts (e.g., helper roles, creative projects, leadership) and over time, fostering self-sustaining behavior change (Paliliunas, 2022). Compatibility with modern behavior-analytic strategies.
Integrating ACT processes (values, acceptance, defusion) with ABA procedures offers a compassionate, student-centered approach without abandoning reinforcement; rather, values act as motivating operations that strengthen whole classes of prosocial or academic behaviors (Tarbox et al., 2020; Paliliunas, 2022).
This is well within the scope of contemporary behavior analysis (Hanley, 2010; Tarbox et al., 2020). Quality of life, not just task completion.
Values-aligned contingencies emphasize socially significant outcomes and identity-relevant accomplishments (e.g., “You led your group—that’s leadership, which you said matters to you”), supporting durable prosocial and academic behavior alongside self-understanding (Hanley, 2010; Paliliunas, 2022).
Evidence from Single-Subject Research
A growing body of single-subject research supports values-based procedures for changing overt behavior: Staff engagement increases after values work.
In a multiple-baseline design, brief values-clarification plus committed action produced large, immediate increases in direct-care staff interactions with clients (≈11–16 more per session vs. baseline), demonstrating that values procedures can function like establishing operations for value-consistent work behavior (Castro et al., 2016). Parent values → sustained behavior change.
In a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline across participants, ACT training (including values identification and committed action) produced reliable increases in overt value-consistent parenting, with maintenance and some acceleration at follow-up (Gould et al., 2018). With children, ACT components improve flexibility when standard plans stall.
In a multiple-baseline across children with autism, adding ACT elements (values/defusion/acceptance) to function-based treatment reduced inflexible behavior and improved appropriate responding when initial treatment effects were limited (Szabo, 2019). Together, these studies indicate that clarifying values and arranging committed actions reliably increases observable, value-consistent behavior across populations and contexts—evidence schools can leverage when designing interventions (Castro et al., 2016; Gould et al., 2018; Szabo, 2019).
Implementing Values Assessments in Schools (Practical Steps)
Run both assessments.
In the same week, conduct a brief preference assessment to stock immediate reinforcers (Fisher et al., 1992) and a 10–15-minute values mini-interview to select 2–3 student values and define observable committed actions for school (Paliliunas, 2022; Tarbox et al., 2020). Align reinforcers with values.
Convert backup menus into value-consistent privileges (e.g., helper/mentoring roles for “kindness,” art leadership for “creativity,” peer-lunch or group games for “friendship,” showcases/badges for “mastery”).
This arrangement augments the potency of consequences via values as augmentals (Tarbox et al., 2020; Paliliunas, 2022). Label the value in feedback.
Deliver praise/tokens while naming the value (“That’s leadership—organizing your group”), making the rule-governed value cue explicit to strengthen future responding (Tarbox et al., 2020). Measure value-consistent acts.
Define observable instances (e.g., unsolicited helping, initiating group roles) and graph them—mirroring single-subject approaches that quantified value-directed behavior (Gould et al., 2018). Use brief ACT add-ins when progress plateaus.
When standard plans stall, embed quick ACT skills (notice thoughts/feelings, reconnect to value, choose one action).
Single-case work shows this can unlock progress with youth (Szabo, 2019). Conclusion Integrating values assessments with preference assessments enriches K–12 intervention design.
Preference assessments efficiently find “what to pay with” in the moment (Fisher et al., 1992); values assessments identify why the behavior matters to the student, functioning as augmentals that enhance the natural reinforcing value of value-consistent outcomes (Tarbox et al., 2020; Paliliunas, 2022).
Single-subject studies demonstrate reliable increases in observable value-consistent behavior in applied contexts (Castro et al., 2016; Gould et al., 2018; Szabo, 2019).
In schools, that translates to students who persist longer, generalize more, and connect academic and prosocial actions to personally meaningful directions—exactly the kind of durable change ABA aims to produce (Hanley, 2010).
References Castro, M., Rehfeldt, R.
A., & Root, W.
B. (2016).
On the role of values clarification and committed actions in enhancing the engagement of direct care workers with clients with severe developmental disorders.
Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 5(4), 201–207. Fisher, W.
W., Piazza, C.
C., Bowman, L.
G., Hagopian, L.
P., Owens, J.
C., & Slevin, I. (1992).
A comparison of two approaches for identifying reinforcers for persons with severe and profound disabilities.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 25(2), 491–498. Gould, E.
R., Tarbox, J., & Coyne, L. (2018).
Evaluating the effects of Acceptance and Commitment Training on the overt behavior of parents of children with autism.
Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 7, 81–88. Hanley, G.
P. (2010).
Toward effective and preferred programming: A case for the objective measurement of social validity in behavior analysis.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 3(1), 13–21. Paliliunas, D. (2022).
Values: A core guiding principle for behavior-analytic intervention and research.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 15(1), 115–125. Szabo, T.
G. (2019).
Acceptance and Commitment Training for reducing inflexible behaviors in children with autism.
Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 12, 178–188. Tarbox, J., et al. (2020).
Is Acceptance and Commitment Training or Therapy (ACT) a method that applied behavior analysts can and should use? The Psychological Record, 70(3), 531–552. Baer, D.
M., Wolf, M.
M., & Risley, T.
R. (1968).
Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(1), 91–97. (If you want me to slot in additional single-subject preference-assessment citations—e.g., MSWO, brief/free-operant formats—I can add those too.) —-----------------------------------------------
Values vs.
Preference Assessments in School-Based ABA: How to Get Reinforcement That Actually Matters TL;DR: Preference assessments tell you what a student likes right now.
Values assessments (ACT-informed) tell you why a student will keep showing up tomorrow.
Use both—identify quick reinforcers with preference assessments and anchor long-term behavior change to the student’s values with ACT processes (Fisher et al., 1992; Paliliunas, 2022; Tarbox et al., 2020).
Preference Assessments: Fast, Reliable, and Limited
What they do.
Stimulus preference assessments systematically identify items/activities a learner selects, which are likely to function as reinforcers when delivered contingently (Fisher et al., 1992).
Paired-stimulus, MSWO, and brief/free-operant formats all build usable hierarchies for classroom contingencies (Fisher et al., 1992). Why they work in classrooms.
You can quickly “stock the menu” with things students will work for—snacks, activities, or brief social access—and use them to increase target behavior. Example.
A 10-year-old consistently chooses “game with a friend.” Use that as the reinforcer for task completion or transitions (Fisher et al., 1992). Limitations.
They capture momentary preferences and emphasize extrinsic motivators.
Without connecting to what the student finds personally important, effects can fizzle or fail to generalize.
Values Assessments: The Why Behind Enduring Change
What they are.
ACT-informed values assessments clarify personally chosen directions (e.g., friendship, creativity, helping) that organize behavior over time and are intrinsically reinforcing to enact (Paliliunas, 2022). Behavior-analytic mechanism.
Values statements function as motivational augmentals (rule-governed antecedents) that increase the reinforcing value of consequences for value-consistent actions (Tarbox et al., 2020).
If a student values “being a good friend,” helping and sharing become more reinforcing because they contact valued outcomes (Tarbox et al., 2020; Paliliunas, 2022). Practical tools.
Brief card sorts, guided questions, or mini-interviews help students name top values and define what those look like in observable school behaviors (Paliliunas, 2022). Example.
A student identifies “helping others” and “artistic expression.” We arrange tutoring roles and art-leadership opportunities.
Acting in line with those values contacts natural reinforcement—meaning, pride, identity coherence—beyond any trinket (Paliliunas, 2022; Tarbox et al., 2020).
Why Values Matter in K–12 (and How They Complement Preference Assessments)
Higher buy-in & social validity.
Programs tied to the learner’s own values are experienced as relevant and preferred (Hanley, 2010). Intrinsic motivation.
Values embed reinforcement in the activity, not just in a prize; students persist as contrived rewards fade (Paliliunas, 2022; Tarbox et al., 2020). Durability & generalization.
Values are relatively stable; value-linked consequences generalize across classes, contexts, and time (Paliliunas, 2022). Fully behavior-analytic.
Values operate as motivating operations/augmentals within standard ABA contingencies—this is an evolution, not a departure (Tarbox et al., 2020; Hanley, 2010). What Research Shows Values → more engagement (staff).
Multiple-baseline: values clarification + committed action produced large, immediate increases in direct-care staff interactions with clients (≈11–16 more per session from baseline) (Castro et al., 2016). Values → sustained behavior (parents).
Nonconcurrent multiple-baseline: ACT (including values) produced reliable increases in overt value-consistent parenting, with maintenance/acceleration at follow-up (Gould et al., 2018). ACT with children when plans stall.
Multiple-baseline with autistic children: adding ACT elements (values/defusion/acceptance) to function-based treatment reduced inflexible behavior and improved appropriate responding (Szabo, 2019). Preference assessments work (foundation).
Paired-stimulus and related formats accurately identify stimuli likely to function as reinforcers and are easy to deploy in schools (Fisher et al., 1992). Bottom line: Use preference assessments to find “what to pay with” today, and values assessments to establish “why it’s worth doing” tomorrow (Fisher et al., 1992; Paliliunas, 2022; Tarbox et al., 2020; Castro et al., 2016; Gould et al., 2018; Szabo, 2019).
Classroom Playbook (Rapid Implementation)
Run both in the same week.
Preference assessment: quick paired-stimulus/MSWO to populate immediate reinforcers (Fisher et al., 1992). Values mini-interview (10–15 min): identify 2–3 values; define committed actions in observable terms (Paliliunas, 2022; Tarbox et al., 2020). Align contingencies to values. Make backup menus value-consistent (e.g., helper/mentoring for “kindness,” art leadership for “creativity,” peer-lunch for “friendship,” showcases/badges for “mastery”) (Paliliunas, 2022; Tarbox et al., 2020). Label the value in feedback. “That’s leadership—organizing your group.” Turn praise into a rule-governed augmental cue (Tarbox et al., 2020). Graph value-consistent acts. Define and tally overt instances (e.g., unsolicited helping, initiating group roles) and review with the student, mirroring single-case measurement (Gould et al., 2018). When progress plateaus, add brief ACT skills. Notice/Name (thoughts/feelings) → Reconnect (value) → Choose (next action).
This sequence has unlocked change with youth when standard plans stalled (Szabo, 2019). Wrap-Up Preference assessments are your on-ramp; values assessments are your engine.
Together they deliver motivation that’s immediate and meaningful—exactly what school-based ABA is aiming for (Fisher et al., 1992; Hanley, 2010; Paliliunas, 2022; Tarbox et al., 2020; Castro et al., 2016; Gould et al., 2018; Szabo, 2019).
Try This Next: Generate Values-Aligned IEP Goals
Ready to turn this into concrete, measurable objectives? Use our IEP Goal Generator to build goals that integrate preference-based reinforcers and values-aligned outcomes—fast. 👉 Create goals now: behaviorschool.com/iep-goal-writer References Baer, D.
M., Wolf, M.
M., & Risley, T.
R. (1968).
Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(1), 91–97. Castro, M., Rehfeldt, R.
A., & Root, W.
B. (2016).
On the role of values clarification and committed actions in enhancing the engagement of direct care workers with clients with severe developmental disorders.
Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 5(4), 201–207. Fisher, W.
W., Piazza, C.
C., Bowman, L.
G., Hagopian, L.
P., Owens, J.
C., & Slevin, I. (1992).
A comparison of two approaches for identifying reinforcers for persons with severe and profound disabilities.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 25(2), 491–498. Gould, E.
R., Tarbox, J., & Coyne, L. (2018).
Evaluating the effects of Acceptance and Commitment Training on the overt behavior of parents of children with autism.
Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 7, 81–88. Hanley, G.
P. (2010).
Toward effective and preferred programming: A case for the objective measurement of social validity in behavior analysis.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 3(1), 13–21. Paliliunas, D. (2022).
Values: A core guiding principle for behavior-analytic intervention and research.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 15(1), 115–125. Szabo, T.
G. (2019).
Acceptance and Commitment Training for reducing inflexible behaviors in children with autism.
Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 12, 178–188. Tarbox, J., et al. (2020).
Is Acceptance and Commitment Training or Therapy (ACT) a method that applied behavior analysts can and should use? The Psychological Record, 70(3), 531–552*.
Edited by Rob Spain, M.S., BCBA, IBA
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